Record Jaguar Number Counted in Rainforest

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A record number of jaguars have been identified in one of the
world's most biologically diverse landscapes.
Using technology first adapted to identify tigers by stripe
patterns, researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society have
identified 19 individual jaguars by spot patterns in the
rainforests of Bolivia, a record number for a single camera trap survey in the country.

"We're excited about the prospect of using these images to find
out more about this elusive cat and its ecological needs," said
WCS conservationist Robert Wallace. "The data gleaned from these
images provide insights into the lives of individual jaguars and
will help us generate a density estimate for the area."

The images come from the Alto Madidi and Alto Heath, a region at
the headwaters of the Madidi and Heath Rivers inside Bolivia’s
Madidi National Park. The survey also
included Ixiamas Municipal Reserve, created following a
previous WCS survey in 2004 along the Madidi River, which
revealed a high abundance of jaguars and other species such as
white-lipped peccaries, spider monkeys, and giant otters.

"The preliminary results of this new expedition underscore the
importance of the Madidi landscape to jaguars and other
charismatic rainforest species," said Julie Kunen, director of
WCS's Latin America and Caribbean Program. "Understanding the
densities and ranging habits of jaguars is an important
step in formulating effective management plans for what is
arguably the most biodiverse landscape on the planet."

The cameras used are strategically placed along pathways in the
forest and especially the beaches of rivers and streams for weeks
at a time, snapping pictures of animals that cross an infrared
beam.

The animals were identified from a total of 975 photographs, a
record number of images due to the use of digital cameras as
opposed to camera traps that use film. These allow researchers
returning to the traps can download the images in seconds, rather
than waiting days for film to develop.

Bolivian jaguar field biologist Guido Ayala noted that "series of
digital images also capture more data than traditional film."

Madidi National Park is one of the top tourist attractions in
Bolivia and is the centerpiece of a continuous chain of six
national protected areas in northwestern Bolivia and southeastern
Peru, one of the largest such complexes in the world.